The Covid-19 crisis has impacted on the global economic downturn of recent years. The pandemic has also impacted youth and adult populations throughout Europe, not only in daily life, but also in terms of loss of employment as well as a major decrease of educational opportunities. The EU 2020 Strategy acknowledges that education and training can help tackle key challenges Europe is currently facing in recent years and particularly in light of the current global pandemic. The project acknowledges the importance of human and social capital as articulated in the 2020 Strategy and the aims of Erasmus+, and intends to provide opportunities for individuals and schools to develop their skills through formal and informal education. The 4c’s project builds competencies for educators and students around the 4C’s of 21st century skills: critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in an increasingly complex world, children need to develop higher level thinking skills in order to find solutions to social, emotional and economic problems. In order to respond to the challenges of the 21st century, children need to be creative, innovative, enterprising and adaptable, with the motivation, confidence and skills to use creative and critical thinking purposefully. The Covid crisis has highlighted the need for increased skills for educators in the museum and education sectors in developing and delivering creative digital curricula in the virtual or online environment (British Council report, 2020). The 4 C’s project responds to this need by supporting the delivery of creative and critical thinking educational approaches into schools through engagement with the cultural sector specifically museums, galleries, makerspaces, science centres and festivals. The project will bring together experts from the museum sector with makers and Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths (STEAM) leaders to create a competency framework, reflective practice tools for educators and evaluation tools for digital cultural heritage projects. The 4 C’s project capitalises on the mobilisation of digital cultural heritage and engagement with maker spaces models, as tools to create unusual and exciting learning opportunities. The 4 C’s project responds to the need to digitally transform the way in which students are engaged, by supporting teachers and educators to develop skills, reflect on their practice and to evaluate their teaching with students. The 4 C’s project is an extension of the Erasmus+ Creative Schools project (2019-2022, 2019-1-FR01-KA201-062212) through the development of additional opportunities around the areas of competencies, particularly in and around the digital curriculum, and evaluation tools. These areas were identified in the first phase of the Creative Schools project (www.creative-schools.eu) as one of three things needed by educators (the first is teaching methodologies), but remain out of the scope of the previous project. More importantly, with the current Covid-19 pandemic, museums, galleries, makerspaces, science centres and festivals realise the need to review, relearn and redesign engagement with audiences especially through digital and onsite engagement (blended learning). The 4C’s project will provide the opportunity to do this. The main beneficiaries of the project include museum professionals, as well as primary and secondary school teachers, who - through engaging with the project - will become equipped with the skills necessary to facilitate pedagogical strategies for creativity and critical thinking. Children and young people involved as participants in the project will develop the skills required to respond to the challenges offered by the new curriculum and these will be assessed and evaluated in the 4 C’s project. The 4 C’s project will involve 5 of current partners from the Creative Schools project, with the addition of the Festival of Curiosity from the Republic of Ireland. The project partners all provide considerable expertise and knowledge in the subject area of innovation, creativity and critical thinking and with working with schools and young people. Project results will be disseminated through the partner’s networks, which include both the educational, the creative and the cultural sectors.
The 4Cs project was created in direct response to the first Intellectual Output of the Creative School project and the findings in the initial report. Throughout the duration of the Creative School project, museum, science, arts and heritage professionals, creatives, digital practitioners and makers are encouraged to share good practices; learn from each other; explore ways of engaging with teachers and students in schools in the development of learning resources; as well as disseminate the processes and outcomes. Working on the same principles and audiences, the objective of the 4Cs project in three key areas where educators / teachers need support: - Clear methodologies: educators need to be supported in having concrete and practical methodologies to implement creative activities on critical and creative thinking. - Developing competences: educators need skills-set (competency framework) based on soft skills or competences students can acquire developing their own creative and critical thinking. - Support for evaluation: educators do not know how to evaluate students on critical and creative thinking therefore there is a need to develop a methodology for evaluation.
During the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, the European cultural and creative sectors were severely impacted; the majority of cultural institutions engage with audiences onsite in close proximity with visitors and participants and therefore ceased to operate during imposed restrictions. The pandemic has also impacted youth and adult populations throughout Europe resulting in the loss of employment as well as a reduction of educational opportunities. The EU 2020 Strategy acknowledged that education and training can help tackle key challenges Europe is currently facing and particularly in light of the current global pandemic. The 4Cs project was launched in response to the need to digitally transform the way in which students are engaged, by supporting teachers and educators to develop skills, reflect on their practice and to evaluate their teaching with students. The project builds competencies for educators and students around the 4Cs of 21st century skills: critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication. It is an extension of the Erasmus+ Creative School project through the development of additional opportunities around the areas of competencies, particularly in and around the digital curriculum, and evaluation tools.